(1.) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus which delivers a content such as music data and to an apparatus which reproduces the content, and in particular to an automatic delivery of the content to a mobile unit and to an automatic selection of the content in the mobile unit.
(2.) Description of the Related Art
A recent rapid development of network communication technology has allowed realizations of an HDD-installed on-vehicle device and a music distribution to a mobile terminal, so that various contents can now be enjoyed even during traveling time.
As a conventional technology relating to such music distribution to the mobile unit, for example, there is proposed a music data delivery apparatus and the like which automatically distributes music data matching user's behavior (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-108351). This music data delivery apparatus accumulates, as a delivery history, user's positional information and a music piece delivered at the position, and delivers a music piece corresponding to the positional information.
However, even at the same location, a time available for listening to music differs depending on the transportation to be used such as a car, a train and a bus. Therefore, the same music is not necessarily the best choice even at the same location as in the past. For example, in the case of commuting from home to work by train, an available content-viewing duration is a duration for which one is on a train. Accordingly, in the case where a content which lasts beyond the available viewing duration is delivered, the viewing has to be stopped before a reproduction of a music performance or a program is completely finished. In other words, the reproduction has to be discontinued in the middle of the reproduction of the music performance or the program.
Accordingly, a user's travel duration (available content-viewing duration) differs for each traveling, and a viewing of a content needs to be allowed in accordance with the duration. For example, it is necessary to meet demands such as “I want to listen to a 60-minute music album in 30 minutes”, or “I want to watch a 3-hour live-baseball broadcast in 30 minutes digest.”
Thus, the present invention allows meeting such demands, and an object of the present invention is to provide a content delivery apparatus, a content reproduction apparatus and the like, which respectively allow an automatic delivery and an automatic reproduction of a content such as music performance and a program that is completely reproduced within a user's travel duration.